The Dragon Rider
by MasterBSmith
Summary: When all seems at it's worst for Berk can Hiccup save the people of Berk with the help of a friend with two wings and one with blonde hair.
1. Friends

The Dragon Rider

Disclaimer – I don't own anything

Chapter 1 – Friends

Everything in my life was a disappointment to my father. Being the chiefs son everything I did was seen by everyone, good or bad. I was ignored by pretty much everyone even my own father, he would only talk to me to either tell me off or unless it was necessary. My only ever friend was Fishlegs, we have a lot in common although we look completely different. We both like to read and write and also share a passion concerning dragons. All the other teens our age are off training to kill dragons whilst me a Fishlegs would rather use our brains instead of our arms.

It was a while ago but I remember being friends with Astrid, the only other person that seemed to tolerate me and also happened to be the love of my life but I couldn't tell her that not after seeing what she does to Snotlout when he mentions going out with her.

Things started to change recently in the village, Gobber was preparing to teach the teens my age about dragon killing and I had befriended a dragon. I know how crazy it sounds to befriend a dragon whilst living on an island known for dragon killing but I didn't have it in me to kill the dragon, he looked so helpless all tied up so I let him go. I haven't told anyone about him yet but if I tell anyone it will be Fishlegs because he is the only person I can trust with that sort of information. Fishlegs and myself have talked about what it would be like living with dragons instead of fighting them and well let's just say the benefits massively outweigh the negatives.

I was woken from the thoughts by Dad shouting up the stairs. "Hiccup! Get down here now I need to talk to you." Pulling myself from my bed I stumble down the stairs after very slowly opening my door.

"Come on Hiccup I don't have all day." My Dad says from the bottom of the stairs.

"Well son, as you know I will be going on another hunt to Helheims gate to find the nest so I will be leaving the house to you for a couple of weeks. But I want you to promise me something."

"Yes Dad…" I reply nervously.

"When I come back I want to see you doing well in dragon training, no negotiations." My Father said sternly before turning and walking towards to the front door. "I'll be back in about a month or so… hopefully."

"And I'll be here possibly." I say as my Dad nods to me and walks out the door. Well since I am up now might aswell make my way to the hall for breakfast. Opening the door I am shocked to see Fishlegs waiting outside looking like he is about to burst with happiness.

"Um Fishlegs…"

"Hi Hiccup, I had this amazing idea last night and I want to talk to you about." Fishlegs says bursting with excitement.

"Whoa calm down Fishlegs it's really early and my brain is still in bed so can we go eat first and then maybe when my brain wakes up we can talk about it." I say as politely as possible.

"Yeah ok, lets head to the hall." Fishlegs says a bit dejectedly.

As we walk to the hall I realise that what I said was a bit harsh so I decide to speak up. "Look Fishlegs, I didn't mean to offend you when you were standing outside of my house, I had just been woken up by my Dad and shouted at to do well in dragon training no excuses."

"It's ok Hiccup, I had been up for quite a while today so I'm already awake but like you said we can talk about it after breakfast."

After a couple of minutes we reach the hall and push the door open to enter the hall. Me and Fishlegs are both surprised to fine absolutely no one in the hall. "Well ok then I guess we have the hall to ourselves."

"There are probably all down at the docks waving the fleet away…. Or they have all gone to Helheims gate." Fishlegs finishes bluntly.

"I am ok with that, the less people around the less people that stare at me all the time." I say I'm response to Fishlegs. "Well I wonder if there is any good in here."

"I can see some over there, not sure if it is hot or not." Fishlegs states as we make our way over.

After checking the food pan I respond "Stone cold, well that is handy. Well since there is no food in here do you want to tell me what you were thinking about since I have somewhat woken up."

"Sure, well I have been collecting a lot information in terms of how much fish we are feeding the dragons in the ring and how much we are losing per raid and well I gathered that the dragons in the ring have around 5-10 fish per day but we are losing around a couple of thousand fish per raid and by me looking it would seem like that would be way too much for the dragons that raid us." Fishlegs states.

"What are trying to say Fishlegs." I ask intrigued in what he was saying.

"Well I don't know if this is right but I think there is something else on that island Hiccup, something not like any dragon we have seen, I don't want to say it but I think we might have a very big dragon on that island one that demands other dragons to do its bidding." Fishlegs finishes.

"You know what Fishlegs I think you might be right, there is something else on that island and if the fleet find a way to it they won't be coming back." I say as I think more.

"So should we tell someone about this because what if we are right so many people could die and it wou-"

"Fishlegs, they are never going to find the nest, they have been searching for it for years now and no one has found it and that's not going to change this time. Also no I don't think we should tell anyo-"

"Tell anyone what." A voice interrupts, me and Fishlegs turn around to see none other than Astrid Hofferson with her hand on her hip.

"Oh hey Astrid." I say cheerfully. "Me and Fishlegs we just looking at some data to do with fish and the dragons."

"Why would you be doing that." She asked not showing much interest.

"Well do you want why we are?" I ask hesitantly, trying to hide how happy I am that she was here in the same room as me.

"Yeah I guess I have got nothing better to do." She says as she sits down on the opposite side of the table to us.

"Do you mind if I explain Fishlegs." I ask hoping to show off a little in front of Astrid. "Yeah sure go for it Hiccup." Secretly he knows I am was trying to impress Astrid.

"Well basically…" I continue to reiterate what Fishlegs told and I can slowly see that she was becoming more and more interested as I talked. After a while and a lot of talking I finish and look up to see a wide eyed Astrid staring back at me shocked by what I had just told her.

"No matter how ridiculous that's sounds it just feels right, like everything makes sense about what you said, it would explain why they take so much food and it would seem as it they were being forced into doing it. The behaviour difference between the raiding dragons and the caged dragons is so noticeable and I only just realised when you said. My Thor Hiccup I think you might be right about this but that means that our parents are sailing to their deaths." She finishes horrified.

"It's ok Astrid, no one on Berk has been able to find the nest in the 300 years we have been here and I don't think they will be able to find it now." I say trying to reassure Astrid.

"Thanks Hiccup that really helped." She says staring into my eyes. "Anyway what are you guys going to do today?" Astrid asks looking between me and Fishlegs.

"Well I will probably go home and make some tweaks to the dragon manual." Fishlegs says and Astrid nods at him. "What about you Hiccup?

"Well I think I will probably head to the forge to see if Gobber needs anything doing." I say calmly.

To which she replies. "Do you mind if I come with you I think I need my axe sharpening again."

"Sure but didn't you just have that sharpened a couple of days ago."

"Yeah I did but I use it a lot so it needs this often." My mind starts to think that there might be other reason for her frequent visits to the forge but my logical side knows better.

"Alright do you want to head down now."

"Sure, let's go."

"I'll speak to you later Fish." I say to Fishlegs before getting up and walking towards the door with Astrid in tow.

"I'll see you later Hiccup." He replies as I open the doors out into Berk.

"So how are you feeling for dragon training." She asks as we walk.

"To be completely honest with you Astrid I don't want to do it, not because I am scared of dragons but more because I don't have the ability to be able to do fight them and the thought of letting my father down is the only thing that makes me want to do it, to prove to him that he was wrong about me and that I can fight with my hands and not just my head." I finish off looking at the ground ashamed that I can't fight aswell as anyone in this village especially not nearly aswell as the person next to me.

"Hiccup, fighting hand to hand isn't who you are, you use your mind to fight before using physical strength if needed as a last resort. But if it means so much to you to make your Dad proud them I guess I could show you a few things from time to time, let's call it a thanks for all the fixing and pampering you do to my axe." She says with a smirk as she looks at me.

"Wha..what how did you know that was me.." I ask shocked that she even realised I was the one looking after her axe.

"Come on Hiccup give yourself a bit of credit." She says as she punches my arm. "Anyone can tell which weapons have been worked on by you and which by Gobber, the amount of detail and time you put into the weapons you service is evident and people do realise it whether you see it or not."

"I do the same amount of work on all the weapons I service." I say still shocked that she knew it was me.

"Is that why I seem to have a new handle and grip every time I send my axe to be serviced, and I know Gobber would never put that much effort into a weapon so it must be you that does it." Astrid finishes with a triumphant smirk on her face that she figured it out.

"Yeah ok its me…" I say dejectedly.

"Hey what's wrong, I was praising you not slating you about, I love that someone cares this much about my axe as much as I do and I feel truly honoured that you have done this for after everything that has happened to you, you still continue to give and I think that is amazing."

"Thanks Astrid, you don't know how much that means to me to hear that from you of all people." I say as we reach the outside of the forge.

"Gobber!?" I shout inside to see if he is in the forge.

"Yes lad, I'm in the back." Gobber shouts back from further inside the forge. I motion to Astrid to follow me inside.

"Do you mind if I use the forge for a bit Gobber." I ask.

"Of course not laddy, you don't need to ask anymore this place is as much mine as it is yours. I'll be leaving now anyway need to go and have a word with Bucket and Mulch about the fishing nets, feel free to use what you need." He exclaims as he walks towards the door.

"How are you doing lass?" He asks when he see Astrid standing by the door.

"I'm doing well Gobber, just came down to the forge with Hiccup whilst he sharpens my axe."

"Alright lass, you can go in and watch him work if you like, it's not like it's busy in here anyway." Gobber says as he chuckles to himself and walks towards the docks.

"Astrid? Can I have your axe please."

"Oh sure, here you go." She says as she passes me over her axe.

"Oh my Thor what do you do to this poor axe." I ask astounded as my gaze is fixed upon the axe.

"Well a lot of training my mum won't let up on it and of course I want to come first in dragon training. My goal is to become a shield maiden and the only way to do that is to win this." Astrid states clearly with intent.

"Ok then, remind me not to run into you in the forest anymore." I chuckle nervously as I get to work on the axe. As I set the axe up against the sharpener my mind drifts off to toothless and when I am going to be able to see him next, now will my dad gone it would make slipping away much easier to the point when almost no one would notice except maybe Gobber if he isn't too drunk, Fishlegs if his head wasn't always in the book and maybe Astrid but she is too busy training to worry about me.

As time passes the axe is sharpened and I hand it off to Astrid but before she turns to leave she speaks up. "Hey thanks a lot for this Hiccup, I was wondering when you would be free so I could train you a little bit." She says nervously which shocks me.

"I'm not sure really, maybe tomorrow in the morning some when, I'll probably be in the forge so if you want you can come and find me and we can go into the forest and 'train'" I reply.

"Alright sounds good to me, see you again Hiccup!" She shouts as she leaves the forge and runs towards the forest. After a couple of minutes I excuse myself from the forge and make my way down to the docks where I pick up plenty of fish from my net I placed and put them into a basket and carried them towards to the forest where I will go and see my best friend.

Hi guys thank you for reading the first chapter to what I hope will be a long story. Let me know what you thought by leaving a review and I look forward to seeing you again when I post my next chapter.


	2. Barriers no more

The Dragon Rider

Disclaimer – I don't own anything

Chapter 2 – Barriers no more

"Toothless!? Where are you bud." I shout into a cove that seems empty. In the distance I spot a black mass popping out from behind a rock and bounding towards me at speed.

"Hey bud, how have you been?" I ask as I engulf him in a hug.

"_I'm doing well Hiccup." _

"Whoa what was that, is someone here ?" I ask confused as I look beyond Toothless to the bushes to see if I can see anyone. "Must be hearing things." I say as I return to petting Toothless.

"Here bud I brought you some fish, you can eat that and we can flying if you want." I say to which he bounds around in joy. After giving Toothless his fish I sit down with my back against a rock and pull out my sketch book to continue one of my latest designs for Toothless's tail fins. With what Fishlegs said I am probably going to be one of the only chances that Berk has I'm able to defeat the queen of the nest but I can't do that without revealing myself as a dragon rider.

After 10 minutes of eating and 10 minutes of sketching Toothless finishes his meal and comes over to nudge me in the side to tell me he is done. "All done bud." To which he replies by keeping nudging me as if to say '_hurry up'. _"Alright bud I am getting up, let's go get your gear." I say to him as I make my way over to the cave with our riding gear in. I quickly change into my flying suit and grab the saddle and tail fin for Toothless and quickly put that on before taking off into the sky.

"It never gets old up here bud. I wish I could spend every minute of my life up here with you but that possibility gets less and less everyday. Me and Astrid got to talking yesterday." To which Toothless snorted in reply. "What I don't talk about her that much." I say followed up by another snort.

"_Yeah right and I don't like eating fish."_ Again I hear that voice in my head.

"Who is there, hello?" I ask bewildered whilst looking around frantically searching for the source of the voice. "Why do I keep hearing someone talking in response to my questions, it's really weird."

After a while me and Toothless returned to the cove and I take off his riding gear. "That will never get old bud but I want to go beyond Berk, I want to see what's out there the dragons and the people I want to explore the world with you bud, who knows what is out there but I am stuck here on Berk."

"_It's ok Hiccup one day the people of Berk will see that dragons are good and then we can go beyond this area and see the world, I want to do it with you." _Another voice said to which I searched once again for the source of the voice, and then it hit me was the voice coming from Toothless. I turned around to come face to face with Toothless.

"Can you understand me bud?" I ask nervously to which he nodded back at me and I froze. I couldn't move but only stare at my best friend. "That voice is that you?"

"_Yes it is me Hiccup, Toothless your best friend. I can understand your language and somehow you can understand how I speak and translate it to your own language. Most people would hear a series of rumbles and growls but those can be translated into words that you understand, that language is called Dragonese. No one can speak our language and neither can we speak yours but since we can understand each other's languages we can talk." _Toothless states as if it is something simple.

"Whoa, that is insane but how can I understand you then, I mean I have never even thought about what those growls and grumbles mean I could have never thought to understand your language." I ask confused.

_"I don't know either Hiccup maybe after being with me for so long you have started to pick up on what some of the grumbles and growls mean and now you understand it." _He responds in a series of grumbles.

"But this is really good now because we can actually talk instead of me taking to myself all the time right?"

_"Of course it is Hiccup, just know that being able to understand me now means you can probably understand the other dragons aswell so don't be surprised if you here anymore voices." _He says with a chuckle to himself.

"Alright bud well it's getting pretty late I better get back to the village before anyone notices I am gone, like anyone would notice." I finish a little bit quieter but Toothless doesn't respond. "I'll see you tomorrow somewhen bud."

"_See you Hiccup, I am not going anywhere you don't need to worry about." _I chuckle to myself as I make my way out of the cove towards the village. As I am walking through the forest I heard a scream but not a scream in fear but more a battle cry close by. I keep walking hoping to avoid the battle crying girl but I got caught before I reach the village. "Oh hi Hiccup funny seeing you here, thought you said you didn't want to start training till tomorrow or did you just want to see me again." Astrid says with a smirk.

"Oh hi… As…Astrid didn't see you there." I say as I blush at what she said.

"Well do you want to go to the Meade Hall for tea, I think Gobber wanted everyone there for some 'team building'" Astrid says as she starts to walk towards the village.

"Might as well I suppose." I respond as I walk to catch up to Astrid.

"So what were you doing in the forest then, I'm normally the only one that likes to go in here." She asks out of curiosity.

"Well you know I like to go for walks in the forest clears my mind a little bit helps me to focus on the stuff that is important."

"And what's the most important to you then." Astrid asks curiously.

"You know contrary to popular belief I actually try to ensure people's safely, like I am trying to design various safety equipment that could be put up around the village to help up defend the village from dragons or save the village when it is on fire. For example I designed a system that would have pipes going across the houses with water flowing through it and if you cut a rope it will open the water flow and spill over the house putting the fire out but no one seems to notice anything I design because of my track record." I finish and realise I have been rambling but to my surprise Astrid was staring at me intently with her mouth agape after listening to what I said.

"Hiccup that sounds amazing, why would no one take notice of that, that could save us so many hands that are normally putting out fires that can fight instead and then that could save more houses and prevent as many deaths and so on… Hiccup you need to suggest this." Astrid replies with so much enthusiasm in her voice as we continue to walk towards the hall.

"I try all the time Astrid but my Dad just never listens and you know with how my recent creations have turned out not everyone is keen on something I do or design." I say dejectedly.

"Well maybe if you can prove it works then maybe they will believe you." Astrid says trying to encourage me.

"Maybe some time, we need to start focusing on dragon training next week it's gonna be the most important week of our lives." I say trying to sound enthusiastic.

"I can tell you don't want to do this Hiccup, you don't seem like the type of person to kill you're too nice for that." Astrid says in full truth.

"Yeah your right, I just want to do well so my Dad isn't so disappointed in me all the time, I just feel like a waste of space some times."

"Well hopefully this training we are gonna do at least gets you better than Snotlout and behind me." Astrid finishes with a smirk.

"Well at least someone believes in me." I reply as we push the doors open to the Meade Hall and are greeted by Gobber and the rest of the teens.

"Ah nice of you two to finally join us." Gobber shouts from across the table. After getting my food I go to sit on the table with Fishlegs away from the main group.

"Where have you been, Snotlout hasn't stopped teasing you or me since he got here and it's getting worse now with who you walked in with." Fishlegs finishes as I turn to look at Snotlout to see him glaring back at me before mouthing _"she is mine" _to me and continues to try and flirt with Astrid to no avail.

"Sorry Fish was taking a walk in the forest, just thinking when I came across Astrid and we started talking and walking here." I finish as I turn back around to Snotlout to see him smirking and sneering at me to Ruff and Tuff but not before Astrid stands up and moves her plate and herself over to the table me and Fish were sitting at and sit down and continuing to eat.

"You do realise you just sat on a table with the losers right Astrid." Fishlegs says from next to me and Astrid sitting across the table.

Astrid looks up from her meal and smiles and me and Fishlegs and says. "You guys are my friends much better than the so called ones on the other table. Anyway Hiccup I wanted to ask what weapon you were planning on using during training." Astrid finishes in a quieter tone so no one but me, her and Fish could hear.

"Well I don't really know to be honest, I was thinking something like a short sword because I can't really carry a normal one. I've been designing a new sword for myself but I haven't been able to build it yet." I say in an equally hushed tone.

"That's probably a good choice of weaponry, like you said probably just right for some of your build, I will have to see this design of yours to see if it is any good." She replies as she takes another bite out her food.

"Wow I think you are one of the only people to not call me a hiccup." I reply shocked.

"Well I don't like to mock people for there build because after all it doesn't matter if you can fight properly." She replied sincerely as she continued to eat her food.

"Thanks I guess but still I can't fight." I reply continuing to look down at my plate.

"Well that's going to change real soon, I'll be round tomorrow morning to come get you, don't keep me waiting." Astrid says as she stands up and turns to walk out of the hall closing the doors behind her.

"Hiccup! You never told me that Astrid was going to train you!" Fishlegs squeals from beside me.

"Well I didn't tell you Fish because I didn't know until she said about it to me earlier in the forge." I exclaim defending myself.

"Hiccup you do realise how good Astrid is, if you even get half as good as she is you will be better than everyone else." Fishlegs exclaims.

"Yeah I know Fish that's why I am agreeing to do this, at least it will keep my Dad off my back when he gets back. Anyway I better get back to the house and get some good sleep otherwise I will have a Valkyrie chasing me out of bed tomorrow morning." I respond as I go to stand up. "I'll see you tomorrow hopefully Fish."

"See you tomorrow Hiccup and good luck with that tomorrow." He smiles at me as I exit the hall and head home. To make sure I survive tomorrow I head straight to bed wanting to be up before an angry woman knocks down my door to wake me up.

Hi guys thanks for reading another chapter to this story. Remember to follow the story to get updates to when I upload another chapter. Don't forget to let me know what you guys think about this chapter and I'll see you on the next one.


	3. Long Road Ahead

The Dragon Rider

Disclaimer – I don't own anything

Chapter 3 – Long road ahead

Hiccup woke up to the sound of something falling over and smashing followed by a string angry yells from an all too familiar long blonde haired valkyrie.

"Um why are you in my house?" Hiccup asks disturbed by that fact that someone could get into his house that easily.

"Well since I told you to get up early and I know you don't I saw fit to come to your house to wake you up." Astrid responds as she walks around the fire pit to the kitchen where Hiccup stands.

"Well you did a good job of that." Hiccup says as he scratches the back of his head. "Well I am going to have some breakfast then I will join you."

"Ok, I'll just wait since you don't know where I train." Astrid responds as she takes a seat at the table.

"Do you want anything…" Hiccup stutters out. Astrid looks up from her seat and looks at Hiccup.

"Um sure, I don't normally have breakfast but since I am waiting for you I might as well I suppose." Astrid says as she gets up and makes her way over to stand by Hiccup.

"Hey hey what do you think you are doing, I know what happens when you enter a kitchen." Hiccup says with a smirk directed at Astrid.

Astrid responds with a light punch to the arm. "Hey! I am not that bad. At least every time I step into the forge I don't blow something up." Astrid says with a laugh as she finishes.

"Well at least I can cook, we all have our strengths and cooking isn't one of yours." Hiccup says as they both break down in laughter.

"Who needs to cook when you can fight." Astrid replies after she finishes laughing.

"Well you won't do much fighting if you can't eat." Hiccup says before receiving another light punch to the arm. "But seriously though I am going to have to teach you too cook at some point because you are a lost cause at the moment."

"I don't need you to teach me to cook Hiccup, my mum is teaching me." Astrid replies after taking her seat again.

"Well then I need to have words with your mum because your cooking would make a dragon hate fish." Hiccup responds as he turns back to the kitchen and proceeds to get two bowls and fills them up with stew from the pan

"Well if you train with me and do well maybe I will let teach me to cook since you seem to know how to that much better than you can fight." Astrid replies with another smirk as Hiccup sits down across the table from Astrid and places a warm stew in front of her to eat.

"I am going to hold you to that, it will be a way for me to get back at you for all the mocking that is bound to happen when you beat me to a pulp." Hiccup says as he takes a spoon full of stew and puts it in his mouth.

After a while of more casual conversation both Vikings finished there stews and proceed to put the bowls away and make their way towards the door.

"Hang on Astrid let me go grab my sword." Hiccups says as he runs up the stairs to his room and grabs his trusty sword that is always on his desk in case of emergencies and runs back downstairs to a waiting Astrid.

"Alright let's go the morning is almost up already." Astrid says as she opens the door.

"I didn't realise we were here for so long, that's my bad Astrid." Hiccup says apologetically.

"It's okay we can just extend the session on a bit and just remember for tomorrow to train them eat." Astrid finishes as we make our way towards the forest.

After what feels like hours we finally reach Astrid's training area. "Alright we are here, since you are going to use a sword I will aswell, now I want for us to just spar normally I want see how you do without any guidance."

"You really don't want to do that, I can barely swing the sword let alone actually do well with it." Hiccup replies sarcastically.

"Well we will have to work on your strength then aswell but for now I want you to spar with me." Astrid says with determination. Regrettably Hiccup raises his sword and gets into the best fighting position for him and they clash swords for the first time. After a couple of minutes Astrid was growing increasing impressed with Hiccups ability to maintain his balance and focus but his ingenuity with sword technique was lacking. If Astrid was fighting properly she would have been able to take down Hiccup fairly quick but she wanted to see what Hiccup could do.

"Come on Hiccup attack me don't just defend." Astrid shouts to Hiccup.

Hiccup himself was questioning why Astrid was taking it easy on him but nevertheless he was using this time to analyse Astrids fight pattern and try to fight a weakness. However Hiccup was not surprised that he could barely find any and if he did find one and tried to exploit it she would cover it off and push him back.

Hiccup devised that his only opportunity to get a hit on Astrid was to create his own opening by attacking Astrids solid defence but that was proving very difficult. Even with his tactic Hiccup was trying to employ he still wasn't able to get through Astrid defence and eventually she started to attack Hiccup and was easily able to beat him.

"Well I can say I am pleasantly surprised." Astrid says as she pulls Hiccup up. "For someone that has almost no fighting experience your footwork is amazing." Hiccup immediately blushes at the comment and looks straight down at the ground.

"Than…thanks Astrid." Hiccup replies nervously not daring to look up.

"However you technique is awful." Astrid says as sympathetically as possible.

"Great the honey and the hatchet, is there anymore hatchets because I doubt that was the only thing that was wrong." Hiccup replies sarcastically earning a giggle from Astrid.

"I don't mean it like that Hiccup. I'm trying to help you by telling you what you need to improve." Astrid replies sounding apologetic.

"Yeah I get it there is a lot I need to improve on." Hiccup says and once again looks down at the ground.

"Well not as much as I thought there would be. Ok let's work on your technique with a sword." Astrid said as she joins Hiccup and starts to show him how to work on his technique.

After several hours of training Astrid decides to call it a day because Hiccup was starting to struggle and she also taught Hiccup a lot and it was almost too much for him. Hiccup and Astrid decide to make their way to back to the Meade hall for dinner as the day had flown by. As they entered the hall they spot Fishlegs sat by himself so they make there way over to sit by him.

"Hey Fish." Hiccup says as sits down opposite Fishlegs. "Hi Fishlegs." Astrid also says as she proceeds to sit next to Hiccup.

"Hey guys, how was your training." Fishlegs says as I he looked up from his book.

"It was absolutely hor-" Hiccup says as he is cut off by Astrid. "Hiccup here did better than I ever thought he might." Astrid says as she puts her hand across Hiccups mouth to stop him from talking.

"Uh Astrid…" Hiccup says in a muffled voice due to a hand being over his mouth.

"Oh sorry." Astrid says with a smirk as she takes her hand away.

"It was fun for her not for me." Hiccup says as he rests his head on the table.

"That was a real roller coaster right there." Fishlegs replies after he recovers from what seems like two best friends bickering.

"You want any food Astrid or Fish?" Hiccup asks as he stands up from his seat.

"I'm good thanks Hiccup." Fishlegs replied. "Yes please Hiccup." Astrid replies eagerly as Hiccup nods and make his way over to the food bench.

"So Astrid I don't mean to pry but why are you like hanging around with me and Hiccup now?" Fishlegs ask nervously.

"I think something inside me finally clicked that being with the other group isn't good for me and what I want to do and well Hiccup is always there for people and let me in." Said Astrid as she hangs her head low looking depressed.

"I'm sorry Astrid, it is nice to have some else to talk to and be friends with." Fishlegs said with a smile as Astrid raised her head and gave a small smile back.

"Here you are Astrid." Hiccup said as he placed a plate down in front of her with a cooked fish on it.

"Thanks." Astrid said with a small smile and tucks into her food.

After a while of small chat and eating Hiccup stands up and announces his leave with goodbyes from both Astrid and Fishlegs and makes his way down to the dock and grabs another basket of fish from his own net and makes his way into the forest. By now Hiccup had managed to memorise the route to the cove and made it as efficient as possible.

"Hey bud where are you?" Hiccup asks speaking to the air. In the corner of his eye he spots the black mass jumping towards him from his cave.

"Hey bud!" Hiccup says excitedly as Toothless starts to lick him up and down. "Uh Toothless! You know that doesn't wash out." Hiccup shouts as he shakes off dragon saliva. "I brought you some fish bud." Hiccup says as he turns around to find Toothless with his head in the basket. "And you have found the fish, I think I know who is more important to you."

_"Obviously the fish is the most important." _Toothless said between muffle grumbles.

"Yeah alright bud, do you want to go for a fly?" Hiccup said.

Toothless immediately jumped towards Hiccup as he went to put on his flight gear and attached Toothless's saddle on to him and jumps on and takes off in to the moonlit sky.

"Do you want to try it again bud." Hiccup said hoping that Toothless knew what he was on about.

_"I know if I say no you will just keep insisting so let's do it." _Toothless said in a warble.

Turing Toothless Hiccup spots their target. The target being a flat piece of land that would be available for Hiccup to jump and over and run off the other end whilst Toothless flys underneath and catches him on the other side. The pair had been trying this for quite a while and failed to get it because Toothless was too fast. But with Hiccups new found confidence he wanted to try it again.

Hiccup lined up Toothless with the land and prepared himself on the top of the saddle to jump. Almost immediately the land was upon them Hiccup leaped up from the saddle and landed with easy on the land and sprinted to the other side as fast as he possibly could hoping that Toothless would be there. Reaching the other side Hiccup leaped off without a second thought and to his surprise he landed perfectly back in the saddle.

"Wooooooo! Yes we did it Toothless!" Hiccup shouted in excitement.

_"I can't believe that worked." _Toothless said in astonishment.

"I'm telling you Toothless this is a good omen I think we should try the free fall again I think we can do it without any hiccups this time." Hiccup said full off excitement.

_"At this point I don't think I could stop you even if I tried to be honest." _Toothless said.

Hiccup point Toothless up towards the clouds and they ascend into the clouds. Hiccup couldn't help but think this would be a great place to take Astrid one day if he could ever get near a dragon but first he needed her trust.

Hiccup and Toothless ascended above the clouds and Hiccup once again prepared himself to leave the saddle. Eventually Hiccup slide of the saddle and feel into a free fall closely followed by Toothless who was spinning around Hiccup with his tongue out enjoying the feel. Hiccup was blown away by the feeling, he began to think that this is what it must feel like to be a dragon and if there was anyway to be able to fly like a dragon he would do it.

Eventually Hiccup got back on the saddle and attached himself to the saddle and flew back towards the cove where he would remove the saddle from Toothless and the riding gear from himself and make his way back to the village because it has suddenly become night. With a final farewell to his best friend he made a beeline for his house.

Hi guys here is another chapter for this story. I hope the chapter is good enough for now, there will start to be mire action later on. Don't forget to follow and review the chapter and I will see you when I next upload.


	4. Trust

The Dragon Rider

Chapter 4 – Trust

A week has passed and Hiccup was starting to be able to keep up with Astrid during their sparking sessions. Hiccup in his spare time had been practicing with his short sword and working on the design for his new sword but he had discovered a issue with his design that he needed to somehow trap zippleback gas and collect some monstrous nightmare saliva from their respective dragons which is causing him a major problem.

The week had come when dragon training was supposed to start but Gobber had been taken ill and thus postponed until he recovers. Fishlegs has been very happy since it was announced that dragon training had been postponed. Astrid had of course been annoyed but had been kept relative happy that she was able to train Hiccup more before dragon training started.

Hiccup had obviously been happy that dragon training had been cancelled and plus it gave him more time to train with Astrid. They had grown a lot closer over the last week and could even be call themselves friends. Hiccup had been able to visit Toothless often and was able to train with his sword when he was with him.

As the sun rose in Berk, Hiccup had gotten up and had been making breakfast before Astrid even knocked on the door. Hiccup had managed to train his body to get up early and go to bed early and he felt much better for it. Training went ahead as normal and their sparring sessions were starting to stretch to the 10 minute mark which was pleasantly surprising Astrid as she was able to get a decent amount of training now rather than before.

After another long training session Hiccup and Astrid made their way to the Meade Hall for lunch as it had become that time so quickly. For the most part they walked in silence until it was broken by another Viking.

"Hey useless what are you doing with my girl!" Snotlout shouted as he marched up them.

Astrid moved her arm in front of Hiccup to stop Snotlout from getting to Hiccup but unbeknownst to her that it stopped Hiccup from stepping in front of her.

"Ohh you are protecting useless now, if you want a real man you know where the snotman is." Snotlout said with a wink towards Astrid and sent a stare towards Hiccup before storming off.

Astrid turned to Hiccup and said with a smirk. "Don't worry about him, he is just annoyed that no girl in this archipelago will ever like him."

Hiccup can't help but laugh at that and is shortly joined by Astrid as they continue to make their way towards the Meade Hall. Fishlegs had been quite happy recently because of the lack of dragon raids and was starting to think less and less about killing them and more about warning them off. Hiccup was starting to see this as an opportunity to get some one on side about his little secret but Fishlegs always has a hard time keeping secrets.

Upon entering the Meade Hall, Hiccup and Astrid are greeted by a full room. Astrid is quickly waved over by her parents and Hiccup goes and joins Fishlegs that is sat on a table by himself away from the main crowd.

"Hey Fish, how are you doing?" Hiccup asks as he sits down across from Fishlegs.

"Oh hey Hiccup, I am doing good how about you?" Fishlegs asks as he looks up from his writings.

"I'm doing good actually, really good, what are you reading." Hiccup asks.

"Actually I am not reading…. I'm writing my own notes on why dragons aren't bad." Fishlegs said nervously. Inside Hiccup he is jumping for joy that someone is also starting to see his way.

"Oh yeah? What have you wrote about?" Hiccup asks.

"That's the thing I don't know why they are good but I always feel as if they are." Fishlegs states trying to get his point across.

"Yeah I understand Fishlegs I get the same feeling too, they look too forced to be doing what they are doing, I mean even the nightfury doesn't steal food he just caused havoc in the village." Hiccup said.

"Yeah exactly! Whatever they are doing it isn't for them it's for someone or something else. I wish there was a way where we could see if they really were bad so that we could prove it to everyone else but no one will listen anyway so I guess there is no point." Fishlegs said feeling down.

Hiccup wasn't really sure if it was right to tell Fishlegs about Toothless or not because or though Fishlegs wants dragons to be good he will still get spooked out about them and then run off and tell everyone about him so it probably isn't best to tell Fishlegs. Also he can't really seem to keep a secret apart from Hiccups life long secret.

"I wish there was a way aswell Fishlegs but we aren't quite at the time yet for the world to see the good side of dragons. We have been fighting dragons for 300 years and unfortunately that isn't likely to change unless someone does something about it. I would like to do that if you will join me Fishlegs?"

"I would love to Hiccup but how are we going to go about this, after all the dragons don't know any different they are still going to try and kill us."

"Maybe if we don't show any weapons and approach them carefully we might be ok."

"That's great and all Hiccup but where are we going to find a drago-" A massive horn interrupts Fishlegs and both of them know what that horn means.

"Dragons!" Another villager yelled.

"Oh no not now." Fishlegs squeals.

"Hiccup! Fishlegs!" Astrid shouts. "Hiccup you need to get to the forge, Fishlegs you need to come with me for the fire brigade."

As the group takes off out the Meade Hall Astrid puts a hand on Hiccups shoulder and says "Be careful out there Hiccup, don't do anything stupid."

"Gee thanks Astrid." Hiccups says with his trademark lopsided smile. "You too."

The trio make their way outside and swiftly separate as Hiccup make it ways towards the forge and Fishlegs and Astrid make their way towards the centre. Hiccup gets to the forge to see a very large queue extending from the shop window.

"Hiccup! Get in here I need yer help." Gobber shouts.

"Alright I'm here Gobber what do you need me to do."

"Sword, sharpen, now." Gobber states before continuing his work.

Hiccup starts to think about how much different things would be without dragon raids. There wouldn't be the need to make weapons on the double, people wouldn't need to know how to fight, they wouldn't need to be scared about a raid happening at any time. That is a world Hiccup wants and he is going to make sure he gets for his sake and everyone he cares about.

If only the village wasn't so against dragons Hiccup could willingly use Toothless to drive away the raiding dragons and maybe even find out what is the reason for the raiding but first Hiccup needs to train more and pass dragon training so the village doesn't treat him like the scum of the earth.

"Alright I am done here Gobber, what next?" Hiccup asked whilst leaning over to see Gobber.

"Have you done the ones in the window?" Gobber asks. Hiccup looked over at the window and inwardly groaned before proceeding to march over to the window and pick up the pile of swords and axes and take it back over to his bench.

"Nope but I am going to do it now." Hiccup states. Hiccup hears a huff of acknowledgement from Gobber before continuing to work.

Looking up from his work Hiccup spots the fire crew going round putting out many fires being created by various dragons. Fishlegs looks up from his job and sees Hiccup looking through the blacksmith window and with a small smile he continues his work. 'Hiccup really wishes he was able to do this but he is much better at what he is doing he just doesn't realise it' Fishlegs thought.

Hiccups eyes quickly shift from Fishlegs to Astrid just in time to see a lone Nadder land a short distance behind her without her knowing. Making his mind up Hiccup throws his tools down, grabs a shield and sprints out of the forge to fire crew. The Nadder was a beautiful blue and yellow colour with a well defined tall and set of spikes on its head.

The Nadder continues to silently make its way towards Astrid as Hiccup is sprinting towards her. The Nadder starts to charge up its fire in the direction of Astrid. Astrid turns around to see Hiccup running towards her at full speed and quickly becomes confused.

"Hiccup? What are you doing out he-" Astrid is interrupted by Hiccup using his body to himself and Astrid out of the line of sight of the Nadder just as it fired. Astrid was completely taken back by Hiccups action and became even more surprised when Hiccup recovered quickly and proceeded to lure the Nadder away to behind couple of houses away from the town centre.

_"I'm going to kill you human! You took away my meal!" _The Nadder shouted as it chased Hiccup.

"But it's not your meal is it Nadder?" Hiccup asked as he stopped to look at the Nadder.

The Nadder came to abrupt stop and looked at Hiccup puzzled with its head tilted slightly. "_You can understand me human?" _The Nadder asked.

"My name is Hiccup and yes I can, you know you don't have to serve the beast, my friend Toothless the Night Fury didn't and now he is my best friend, he lives here on Berk in a cove in the forest. If you want to escape the place you live now this is your only chance." Hiccup said in utter calmness.

_"You don't know anything about us!" _The Nadder roared. "_You people kill us all the time we only steal food to survive and you kill us for it!"_

"I know that is why I am offering you the choice to go the cove and live with Toothless. My best friend until I can persuade these strong minded people that living in coalition with dragons is better than killing them." Hiccup said.

"_How do I know you aren't trying to trick me human?" _

_"_Because if I was trying to hurt you in anyway I would have done it already, like earlier I ran away instead of fighting you so that I could talk to you. I want you to trust me." Hiccup said as he looked away and raised a hand towards the Nadder. The Nadder once again tilted it's head slightly puzzled and moved towards the outstretched hand. The Nadder continued by sniffing the hand and trying to get used to its scent. After realising that the human trusts it wouldn't attack when he looked away and outstretched his hand the Nadder comes to the realisation that it could trust the human and places it's snout in the small hands of Hiccup.

After an agonising minute Hiccup was able to look back with a sigh of relief that the Nadder decided to trust him. Hiccup continued to scratch the chin of the Nadder and then said. "It's not safe here you need to get to the cove in the forest and find Toothless, he is a Nightfury and say Hiccup sent you and he will let you stay. Make sure to stay out of site and I'll come to the cove when I can and bring food for both of you. Be safe Nadder."

_"I will Hiccup." _The Nadder said as it took off in the direction of the cove.

"Hiccup!" Hiccup once again is on alert after hearing the unmistakeable shout of Astrid. Hiccup realises that he doesn't look like he has been in a battle and tosses his complete shield away and picks up a half shield and bent sword and acts as if he is tired.

Just Hiccup does that Astrid comes around the corner with her trusty battle axe and glare that would kill any dragon until her eyes set themselves upon the apparent tired body of Hiccup and instantly soften. With quickly speed to rushes over to Hiccup and says worryingly. "Hiccup?! Oh my Thor are you ok?"

"I'm ok Astrid, just a little tired, it got away." Hiccup said appearing tired.

"I don't care if it got away Hiccup!" Astrid shouted as she punched Hiccup in the shoulder. "That was for scaring me."

"Ow! Why is it always violence with you? Didn't you think I was just in the fight with a Nad-" Hiccup is interrupted as Astrid planted a soft kiss on his cheek.

"That was for saving me." Astrid said softly as she began to walk back towards the village. Before turning the corner she looked back at Hiccup and said. "Well, are you just going to stand there or are you going to come back to the village with me?"

Hiccup quickly broke out of his trance and rushed to catch up with Astrid as they took a silent walk back to the village. Unbeknownst to Hiccup whilst he was talking with the Nadder the other dragons had rained Helheim upon the rest of the village and left it shattered. Hiccups attention was once again taken by the shouting of many villagers towards him.

"This is all your fault!"

"Useless has done to again!"

"Can't you do one thing right for once."

"Hey! The person you call 'useless' just saved my life! He fought off a Nadder that was going to kill me and the rest of the teens! And what were all of you doing for the dragons to cause this much destruction, we haven't had a raid this bad in years and yet here you all are!" A lot of the villagers along with Gobber had gathered in the town centre to witness the outburst of Astrid in defence of Hiccup.

"Calm down lass I'm sure they didn't mean anything by it." Gobber tried to reason with.

"You of all people Gobber should be protecting Hiccup, not defending the people that blame everything on them!" Astrid once agin shouted.

"Astrid it's ok, don't worry about it and besides you have caused a bit of a scene here." Hiccup said as he came out from behind Astrid. For the first time since her outburst, Astrid looked around to see most of the inhabitants of Berk had come to witness her outburst and decided to just walk away.

Hiccup went to go after her but was stopped by Gobber. "I wouldn't go after her lad, she just needs to calm down and the best way for her to do that is to introduce her axe to some trees." Hiccup couldn't help by smile at that but knew he was right and it was probably best to stay out of her way at least until she calmed down.

3 hours later in the Meade Hall

Hiccup was sat down at a table with Fishlegs in the far corner away from the rest of the villagers. About 2 hours ago he had started to become worried about Astrid, she still hadn't returned since her outburst earlier on. At first Hiccup thought she might have just gone home after a short while but Hiccup had visited the Hofferson household and was told she hadn't returned yet. Hiccup had returned to the Meade Hall and had his meal but Astrid still hadn't shown.

"I'm really starting to get worried here Fish, she still isn't back yet." Hiccup said.

"I'm sure she is fine Hiccup, if there was anyone that would be safe out there it's Astrid."

"I know I know Fish but she has been out there for 3 hours and I thought she would be back by now."

"Well I wouldn't dare go near an angry Astrid." Fishlegs said.

"I don't blame you but I am going out to find her, I owe her that at least even if she isn't in danger."

Hiccup stood up from his seat and bid Fishlegs farewell before taking off out of the Meade toward the forest. Hiccup had a pretty good idea where Astrid was from the training sessions they were doing in the morning and from times when he had to sneak past her when he made his way towards the cove.

After walking for 20 minutes Hiccup finally arrived at their training location. Hiccup could tell from the lacerations in pretty much all of the trees that a certain blonde Viking had been here and recently. Hiccup keeps moving through the forest and still hasn't found her, it's getting to the point where Hiccup is concerned Astrid has encountered his secret area.

After a further 10 minute walk Hiccups worst fears are confirmed when he sees the body of Astrid sat on the edge of the ridge of the cove staring out into the distance. Not knowing how to approach her, Hiccup makes himself known by letting out a small cough. Astrid head turns sharply as she clenches on to her axe and prepares to throw it at her intruder. Hiccup quickly puts his hands up and murmurs many apologies before Astrid realises who is it and puts down her axe before sitting back down where she was. Hiccup takes this as an opportunity to join her and sits down next to her.

"It's beautiful isn't it." Astrid said as she continued to stare into the cove.

"Yeah…. You know I was really starting to get worried that you hadn't come back yet."

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to worry people."

"What's wrong Astrid, why have you gone to isolate yourself away from everyone, was it someone how said something or did something.. or was it me?" Hiccup asked nervously.

At that Astrid jumped from her spot to look at Hiccup. "What! No of course not Hiccup, it's just I'm not used to being the one that's being saved." Astrid said as she looked away again.

"Look Astrid, I'm truly sorry that my actions made you feel that way but I couldn't just sit by and watch a dragon stalk up behind my friend and kill her could I. I care about you a lot Astrid and I couldn't bare to live with the fact that my friend had been killed by a dragon attack that I could have prevented. Whatever happens, whatever you do you will always be strong but it's ok to not get everything right be able to do everything sometimes even the best need to be saved and that seems to have happened." By the time Hiccup had finished Astrid looking at him.

"I know your right Hiccup, I just don't want people to think less of me because I was saved and not doing the saving."

"Astrid you have nothing to worry about, you hear them back there they still seem to blame me for the destruction of the village, you have already done enough to earn the villages respect and that will never change." Hiccup stated, feeling proud that he had managed to say that.

"I can't believe they were still blaming you for that back there you managed to fight off a Nadder and they still blamed you for the destruction in the village." Astrid said with anger growing inside of her.

"Astrid do you trust me?" Hiccup asked.

"Of course Hiccup why wouldn't I?"

"I want to show you something but I don't want you to freak out and go and tell everyone about it because then you will never see me again."

"Um Hiccup you are starting to scare me here, what could you possible have that would be punishable by being removed from Berk?" Astrid asked worryingly.

"I'll show you if you can promise to me you will hear me out before you say or do anything. Oh and also I need you to leave your axe here."

"I promise Hiccup, I trust you with my life." Astrid stated.

"Thanks, now if you will follow me."

Meanwhile in the cove Toothless and the Nadder were listening to the conversation of the humans above. _"That's Hiccup but I cant tell who the other is, smells like a female." _Toothless said.

_"I recognise the smell, it was the female I nearly killed earlier you don't think he has brought her to kill me do you?" _The Nadder asked.

_"No of course not, if Hiccup has brought another human with him then he must trust her enough to tell her his biggest secret, if he calls me out stay here until he calls you."_

"You promise me you will here me out Astrid?" Hiccup asked for the fourth time.

"Oh my Thor Hiccup yes I will hear you out ok." Astrid said getting angry now.

They arrived in the middle of the cove and Hiccup took a heavy breath and said. "Astrid come here and stand next to me." Astrid moved to stand next to Hiccup, close enough that it made Hiccups heart race even more.

"Alright bud come on out." Slowly Astrid started to make out a sleek black shape moving towards them slowly. Instinctively she went to grab her axe and realised Hiccup had made her leave it behind 'Damn you Hiccup, if we get killed it your fault.'

"Astrid I would like you to meet Toothless, the Nightfury." Hiccup stated calmly as the black shape revealed itself to be the unholy offspring of lightning and death.

"What the hell Hiccup! That's a dragon!" Astrid shouted and Toothless bared it's teeth and growled.

"Wait Astrid, calm down, you told me you would let me explain so let me explain." Hiccup said. Hiccup took the silence as an invitation to continue. "Astrid this is Toothless and we have a bond. You remember that night when I said I shot down a Nightfury?" Astrid briefly nodded. "Well I did. I found all bound up in the bola and half of his tail fin missing, I had him at my mercy but I couldn't kill him, I couldn't kill him because when I looked at him I saw myself."

Whilst Hiccup was talking, Astrid observed that Hiccup was now scratching 'Toothless' and in return he was purring. "So I set him free, and in return he didn't kill me. Later on I found him here in the cove and trapped with no means of flying, so I build a prosthetic tail and saddle so that he could fly again but the catch was only with me. Toothless put his trust in me and I put mine in him and we have become best friends because of it."

"Also earlier today I never actually fought the Nadder." Hiccup hung his head low. "I spoke to it instead and told it to come here where it would be safe. You can come out now." As if on cue the Nadder appear from the same spot and stood beside Hiccup and gave a soft purr when Hiccup stretched her.

"Look I know Astrid this is a lot to take in but I hope you can see that until not long ago my only friend was Fishlegs and well my dad isn't much of a dad to me, and I still get bullied by Snotlout and the Twins when you aren't around to tell them to go away. With Toothless especially I was able to develop a friendship that wasn't judged on looks or skills but on kindness and care and that was what I needed. I was hoping that slowly I would be able to change everyone's views in the village to stop killing dragons but it would seem I have failed at the first hurdle with you." Hiccup finished and looked away.

"I get it Hiccup. I know I haven't been there for you for our whole lives but I won't leave you now especially when you need me. We need to end the war between dragons and Vikings and this sounds promising so I won't leave you Hiccup, I stand by side whenever and wherever we go." Astrid also finished with both of her hands on Hiccups shoulders forcing him to look at her.

"Did you want to try and bond with the Nadder?" Hiccup asked as he looked in Astrid's eyes and how could she ever say no.

"If we are doing this for real then yes let's do it."

"Ok so place you hand like this and look away, let the dragon decide." Hiccup demonstrated and Astrid copied but to the Nadder. After a time that felt like eternity of for Astrid she felt the snout of the Nadder pressed softly into the palm of her hand and she turned around to see and continued to scratch the dragon as it purred happily against its bonded Viking.

"I think I am going to name you Stormfly." Stormfly responded through a series of chirps and purring much louder. "You like that girl, I like it too."

"I hate to break this up but we better be getting back Astrid the sun is nearly down and people are going to be wondering where we are but we can came back tomorrow or soon."

"You're right Hiccup. I'm sorry girl but this is goodbye for now but I'll be back soon ok." Stormfly pressed her snout into Astrid's body once last time before retreating back to stand near Toothless.

"Look after her bud, we will be back soon."

_"Don't worry Hiccup I will." _Toothless responded as he watched Hiccup and Astrid both leave the cove. After picking up Astrid's axe they make their way towards the village. The short walk back was a constantly flurry of questions from Astrid about Stormfly and Hiccup did his best to respond as much as he could. But soon they reached the village and they had to separate.

"I'm so glad you showed me the truth Hiccup, Stormfly is amazing and beautiful I don't know how I would ever think of killing such a magnificent creature."

"It was my pleasure Astrid, I'm glad to have you on board and now it moves to the more difficult job of convincing everyone else."

"Don't worry about that for now Hiccup, you need to get some rest, no training tomorrow morning I think we both need the rest but I want to see Stormfly tomorrow so we can go in the afternoon. Goodnight Hiccup." Astrid said as she once again placed a soft kiss on Hiccups check and walked off towards home.

**Thank you guys for all of the support on the recent chapters. Sorry for being really slow to post this chapter, I've had a lot going on in my life lately but the next chapters should be coming out much sooner. Don't forget to drop a review and follow the story for updates on when I next post.**


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